Parental Perspective
by Lucareeo
Summary: Shouto Todoroki and Izuku Midoriya have been dating for awhile and every Saturday they spend it at Deku's house. Inko is more than happy for the two but when Endeavor finds out about the relationship, Inko invites him over for dinner.


It wasn't unusual to find Shouto Todoroki and Izuku "Deku" Midoriya walking together on a Saturday afternoon. They were boyfriends after all; however, if you saw them out in public and didn't already know them as a classmate or teacher, you wouldn't really be able to tell. Both boys were too shy to even hold hands. The first time they tried, Deku found himself muttering to himself about how to even hold a person's hand in a romantic manner and if there were some kind of technique to it. While Shouto wasn't as vocal, his right hand had become extremely cold and began to freeze over due to nerves. Both boys were fine with not holding hands – they didn't need to.

Every Saturday after the UA Sports Festival, Shouto would visit his mother in the hospital. It was a comfort to both mother and son, being able to see one another and apologize for what had happened in the past. It was a reassurance for Shouto to be able to get back the lost time of not having a mother figure in his childhood. Not once had Shouto resented his mother for the burn scar that would permanently stain his face. He always knew from a young age that she was his mother not by choice, but by force. The purpose of his being was to be a tool for his father's ambitions – his _endeavors_.

The first time Shouto brought Deku to the hospital to meet his mother he did not introduce him as his boyfriend. There wasn't a need to, as Shouto had introduced him as "someone special" and "someone who saved me." Of course this led the boy to blush madly and try to be humble about himself. It threw Deku off so much that he began rambling to Shouto's mother and explaining he was a classmate who thought her son was amazing, both talented in power and skill. She had laughed lovingly. It caught both Deku and Shouto by surprise as she introduced herself and said sweetly that it was a pleasure to meet him and that she was happy that "Shouto has amazing friends." Shouto was more than surprise as his mother hadn't laughed any time before with all of his visits. His heart had ached for his mother's laughter, remember the times she had laughed while he was still a young child.

Deku had kept a pleasant, and almost too exuberant conversation on her family's quirks history. While he didn't mean to tread into unknown territory since he knew that the reason she married Endeavor was for her quirk, she was more than happy to talk to him about it. It came as a shock to Shouto, even more of a shock when his sister correctly guessed that Deku was his boyfriend before Shouto could say anything. To see his mother's happiness spark just by talking to Deku, well, it made him confirm the fact that his boyfriend was _really_ something special.

After that Saturday, Deku would take Shouto back to his house to meet his own mother. The first time Inko Midoriya saw her son bringing in a school "friend" she was overly ecstatic, bringing out the good tea as well as an array of different snacks to serve her guest. When Deku was able to stammer out the word "boyfriend," Inko nearly tripped over her slippers. She had spluttered out the word in response and began hysterically crying. Both boys moved to action, alarmed by a mother's tears. Though she was only moved to tears by the mere fact that her son was able to find someone, Inko apologized for her outburst and sat both of them down to talk about relationships. Being both Deku and Shouto's first time in any sort of romantic relationship, they were very naïve to what relationship could evolve to. Noticing this, the mother had chosen to talk about the birds and the bees another day.

-

It was another Saturday evening where both Shouto and Deku had been sitting on the sofa talking about their classmates. They had recalled the time that both of them and Iida had encountered the Hero Killer. The training period they were undergoing before their final was intense, and Deku was concerned for his close friend on how his concentration might waver if he was still thinking about the incident.

"I know Iida, even if he doesn't say anything I'm sure he's thinking about it in the back of his head." Deku sighed gently, rubbing his scarred hand gently. It had been a few weeks since what went down in Hosu. The three of them had all talked in the hospital, but none of them could shake off the feeling of absolute terror when they saw the Hero Killer after killing that Nomu.

"I think he'll be fine. Even if he's worried about his brother, he's definitely going to ace the written part of the final. Since we don't know what the physical test is going to be, the best we can all do is keep up our training." Shouto replied, taking another sip of the green tea Deku's mom had put out for them. Deku could only nod in agreement, but continued to think harder on the idea. He wasn't able to do more for Iida when he should've saw the signs of distress and revenge. If it wasn't for Todoroki recognizing the grudge Iida had slowly formed, there was no possible way that both he and Deku could've gotten out of Hosu alive.

"Izuku! Shouto! I'm making cold soba for dinner is that alright with you both?" Inko had called out from the kitchen. Both Deku and his mother knew it was going to be alright, since he had asked his mom if she could make soba tonight after finding out it was Shouto's favorite food.

It seemed like Shouto was able to figure that much out, and a small smile crept onto his face.

"Yes, that sounds amazing, thank you very much." He replied politely, looking to Deku with a questioning eyebrow. "Is that why you asked me what my favorite food was yesterday?" Before Deku could respond there was a sudden – _DING!_

"What? The door? Haha I should go get that! Mom I'll get it!" Deku called out, his face flushing with a nervous smile before standing up from the sofa. Shouto could only scoff playfully, standing up and heading towards the kitchen to see if he could help with anything.

Deku hopped over to the door and opened it cautiously, not really wanting to talk to any sales people at the moment when his boyfriend was over and his mom was cooking. Cracking the door open and peeking out, Deku called out.

"Hello-" Standing before him was none other than Endeavor, the No. 2 Hero in all of Japan. He wasn't even in his costume but his mustache and beard was aflame and completely intimidating. "E-E-Endeavor?!" Deku stared up at him in both awe and worry. What was he doing here?!

"Oh, it's you. For some reason I didn't match your face to the name." The hero scoffed before trying to look past him into the house. "Where is my son? I was told that he's usually here on Saturday." His voice nearly boomed throughout the house, causing Shouto and Inko to peek out of the kitchen. Once Shouto took one look at his father, his face fell into a grimace.

He stormed over to the door, placing a hand on Deku's shoulder and softly motioned him behind.

"What do you want?" His voice was harsh, cold and slightly irritable.

"Huh. Fuyumi told me you're usually here but I almost didn't believe here. Let's go, I've got a new training regimen for you to get you prepared for finals." The look on Enji Todoroki's face screamed "annoyed" and "judgmental" as he looked back and forth between his son and the house he was in. "You're a hero-in-training, you don't have time to be chummy with schoolmates. Let's go _now._ " His voice demanded, booming with arrogance. Both Midoriyas felt a shiver down their spine but Shouto had always defied his father in any way he could.

"No. We can start it tomorrow. I'm going to be staying here for dinner." Shouto replied, nothing in his voice indicated letting his father get his way. Just as expected, Endeavor's flames had grown dangerously both in size and heat at his son's defiance.

Deku held the door open to see both father and son have at it, not really wanting the argument to happen on his front porch with his mother inside the house.

"Uh Todoroki- I mean Shouto, I mean, uh both Todorokis?" He managed to say before Endeavor shot him a dirty look.

"You stay out of this, you're just his classmate so don't interfere with family business boy." The man spat, glaring him down before turning back to his own son.

"He's not just a classmate, he's my boyfriend." A pause. Both Deku and his mother stared at Shouto with their jaws dropped in complete horror. Deku knew that Shouto liked to rile up his father but how would he react to hearing that his son was in a romantic relationship? And with the boy who seemingly represented the No. 1 Hero All Might?

Heat swirled as the flames on Endeavor's facial hair began to flare up in anger.

"What's that boy? You got yourself some sort of boyfriend now? Who said you could have one huh? You're going to be the greatest hero you don't have time for relationships!" He almost screamed out.

"I can do whatever I want and love whoever I want. I'm not someone who forces people into marriage for their quirks." Shouto's jab caused Deku to stutter a form of apology of any kind of sort to Endeavor, though even if it wasn't his place, it was almost like the two Todorokis were forgetting where they were and if a fight were to break out-

"You little- I gave you _life!_ You should be indebted to me for letting you live this long!"

"I never asked to be born, I never asked to be _your_ son!"

"You belong to me! Now come with me NOW!"

"No!"

"Then I'll-"

A small voice from behind the boys emerged.

"Excuse me sir, would you, maybe like… to join us for dinner?" Everyone's eyes turned to the small, mink Inko Midoriya who just invited the No. 2 Hero to eat soba with all of them.

The dinner table was… awkward. That was actually an understatement, it was _way_ more than awkward. The air was thick with tension, and the table wasn't really big enough to fit 6'5" gigantic, muscular hero like Endeavor. Of course he had extinguished his flames out of respect, and looking at him now, Deku thought he was just a neighborhood father who was still rather intimidating on his own respects. The reason to accepting Inko's request was lost to everyone including Enji himself. Maybe it was because he forgotten where he was and began arguing inside a stranger's home and that would look bad in the papers. It would've also looked back if he were to drag his son out of a house and have the neighbors notice. The most likely reason might have been the fact that Inko had kindly smiled at him, causing him to remember that he was a hero and being a hero meant helping civilians. If he were to allow his temper take ahold of him, it was more than likely that his son's so called "boyfriend's" mother would see him as a villain, the very last thing he wants. Of course many people already call Endeavor a "bad hero" and those rumors had gotten to him over the years. If this woman really was the mother of his son's boyfriend, then he should at least be… polite.

"It's cold soba, I hope you're okay with that?" With one hand Inko was placing bowls and mats and with the other she was navigating floating dishes of food onto the table. Enji only nodded.

"That's fine." He huffed gently before staring down his son who sat across him. His eyes meant with equally cold and fierce eyes. The eyes next to him were filled with worry and concern. Deku looked back and forth between Shouto and his father, wondering exactly what his mother was thinking when she gave the offer.

Placing the rest of the dishes down, Inko took her seat next to the No. 2 Hero. The height difference was almost so great that it made the mom look like a toddler next to Endeavor.

"Izuku if you could pass out the chopsticks?" She smiled softly at her son before he nodded.

"R-Right!" Deku stood up and took the utensils and handed everyone a pair. Shouto kept his eyes on his father, ready to strike if he moved out of line but Enji took the chopsticks and nodded as a subtle "thank you."

"Well let's eat!" Inko cheered before taking the soba noodles from the giant pot and placed them in her own bowl. Deku nervously did the same after and dipped his noodles in his mixed sauce. (His mom mixed the sauce just the way he likes it beforehand) He was too nervous to take a bite before Shouto slowly began to move his chopsticks to take some of the noodles.

Shouto was angry that his favorite meal was going to be spoiled by his father's presence. He was mad at him versus being mad at Deku's mother, knowing that she was only meaning well and being the polite woman she was.

Enji slowly took his own chopsticks and placed noodles into his bowl, staring down at it. The Todoroki family lived in a very Japanese style household and having traditional meals like soba wasn't uncommon. The difference was that the soba wasn't as luxurious with multiple toppings or served with other sides. The meal was very… basic. Homemade obviously. It wasn't really something a pro-hero with a considerable income ate usually.

"Did you want some sauce?" Inko asked the other parent. She offered a small sauce plate with dipping soy sauce to Enji. "There's also some wasabi over here if you want to mix it. Izuku doesn't like spicy foods-" A small sound of protest came from the boy. "But I do have some if you like!"

Enji stared at her for a second before nodding, taking the small dipping plate and then added some wasabi to it. "Thanks…"

Shouto raised an eyebrow at his father before finally taking a bite of the soba Deku's mom had made for him that day.

-  
After Enji slurped (loudly) the last remaining noodles he had in his bowl, dinner was finally over. He had given thanks to Inko for the meal, which caught Shouto by a considerable amount of surprise. Deku stood up to put the bowls away but his mother stopped him.

"It's alright Izuku, we can finish up here." She smiled at him and Shouto. This caught almost everyone by surprise, including Endeavor who looked at her and the dishes on the table. Again, being from a very noble household, it wasn't his "duty" to be cleaning after dinner. Since he wasn't at his house, there wasn't any excuses he could do unless he wanted to look like a rude asshole, which again, was not want he wanted when trying to be the No. 1 Hero.

"Okay mom… We'll be in my room then." It almost sounded uncertain, but she coaxed both of them to go. Deku motioned Shouto to follow him and reluctantly they both left the dining table.

Enji looked to the dishes and slowly began placing bowls on top of bowls as Inko headed towards the kitchen sink, using her quirk to float a few of the plates over to her.

"So Mr. Todoroki, I actually wanted to talk to you in private if you don't mind." Inko started as she ran the water. The sudden change of mood caused worry for even the great flame hero. Why would he be scared of some lady? She wasn't even a pro hero!

"What did you want to say?" He treaded lightly, taking the plate over to the sink.

"Well… First I wanted to say thank you. One, for staying over for dinner." A small smile lit her face as she turned to look at him. "Another thank you because I heard in Hosu you arrested the Hero Killer and my son was caught up there. I can't imagine what would've happened if you weren't there." Her voice lowered in a somber manner.

It wasn't Endeavor's place to say that he didn't really do anything to the Hero Killer, and that it was the three kids there that had done any form of damage. He kept his mouth shut, knowing that the media had portrayed him as the hero of Hosu on that day despite only taking down numerous Nomus. Even though his goal for being in Hosu was to take down the Hero Killer, he felt disgusted that he was getting the credit when really doing nothing to the villain. It wasn't like he wanted to explain the situation on how her son charged at the Hero Killer and was nearly kidnapped by a flying monster. It would only cause the mother more worry so instead he nodded.

"It was nothing." The truth.

"Shouto has told me some things. About his family." Inko started, turning towards Enji with a sponge in one of her hands and a plate in the other. "And I don't know anything about your family, truly I don't! And I'm not meant to pry but…" She bit her lip as Endeavor tensed up.

"Don't you want your son to be happy?"

The question rung in Enji's ears. Happiness? What a laugh. When becoming a pro hero you can't think of one's happiness. No, what Shouto needs was training in order to become the greatest hero there is, one to surpass even All Might. He was about to open his mouth but closed it once she opened her's first.

"I'm obviously not a pro hero, neither my husband and I are heroes but my son Izuku- he wants to be like All Might, he wants to be the greatest hero there is." She explained softly. Enji furrowed his eyebrows at the name. All Might, the No. 1 Hero. Everyone wanted to be like him but Endeavor was more powerful than him. Why did everyone idolize that bastard?

"I don't know if you knew but my son was born quirkless, or so I thought before he, um, manifested his quirk. I knew that being a hero meant tireless nights and countless injuries. At first I was secretly happy that my son didn't have a quirk. I knew if he followed All Might's path he would constantly be hurt and he has been coming home with so many injuries, I just… can't stand to see him in so much pain." Her lips trembled. Enji could only stand there, silent.

"But, seeing him become the hero he's always wanted to be, it makes him so happy! And as his mother I know I'll never stop worry, but knowing that he's happy makes it all worth it. And because he got accepted to U.A he was able to meet Shouto! And now I've never seen him happier!" Inko dropped her sponge and balled up her firsts, her lip quivering and tears welling. "I know I'm not you Mr. Todoroki, I don't know what you've been through, but I know that you're a father, and our sons are very close. I'm sure you don't see it, but when Shouto is here I can see him smile at Izuku and that he's happy. So I'll ask again, don't you want your son to be happy?"

Enji stared at her intensely, his hands balling into fists besides him. His mustache, beard and eyebrows began to slowly burn into small flames as he gritted his teeth. This woman was infuriating. This common lady was standing up to Endeavor, the No. 2 Hero and thinking she could butt in on how he raised his child? _His_ creation? His emotions were mixing and fighting with one another. He almost wanted to… wanted to - !

-  
 _CLANK - !_

"I'm sorry." Shouto picked up the classic All Might figure he was fiddling with while sitting on Deku's bed. His nerves were getting the best of him, knowing the fact that someone as sweet as Deku's mother was alone with his bastard of a father. Deku could only comfort the best way he could – by rambling.

"Don't worry! Your dad's still a pro-hero you know and I'm sure they're just talking about dinner and stuff so you really shouldn't worry about them you know? It's not like your dad would do anything bad or anything like that I mean he's still a hero and heroes are meant to help people and-" He was cut off by a sudden embrace. Shouto wrapped his arms around Deku's chest and placed his face onto his shoulder. Anyone could describe Shouto Todoroki as the hot-cold hero but Deku knew that beneath that coldness there was a sense of warmth unlike any flame his father or left side could produce. It was similar to the sun, the feeling when you wake up to the sun rays hitting your face. Similar to a warmth of a blanket on the coldest nights. Similar to how it felt to be loved.

Deku returned the embraced by wrapping his arounds around Shouto, placing a hand on his upper back, rubbing it gently. "Your power is your own, you're not half of him."

"I know."

"And that you're not just a tool of his."

"I know."

"And that I love you."

"… I know." Shouto moved out of the embrace to cover his face with a hand, though Deku knew that he was hiding a smile behind his flustered appearance. Deku could only smile before taking his arm gently, leaning in. Both hearts were pumping in sync, quick-paced with excitement and nerves. Moving his hand, Shouto turned to face Deku before leaning closer, meeting his lips gingerly before pulling away. Both boys' faces were red, flushing from embarrassment and inexperience. They've kissed a few times before, but they were always short and quick. The rationality was that Deku felt he wouldn't know how to properly kiss and Shouto thought he might've… burned or frosted his boyfriend's lips. Both plausible reasoning from two inexperience teenagers.

The sound of deep chuckling from the living room alarmed both of the heroes in training, both stumbling out of their lovers' daze to exit the bedroom and hurry to the parents. Neither of them knew what to expect and for Deku the idea of Endeavor chuckling was only situational to defeating a villain (probably) so what could be happening? Shouto's mind went straight to the worst. He had seen his own mother being pushed around and belittled countless of times, so it was a possibility that his father had done some sort of harm to Deku's mom. The very idea fueled Shouto to arrive first, his right arm freezing to be ready for anything, including fighting his father. His eyes widen suddenly and stopped in his track, causing Deku to run into his back.

"Hey Todoroki-" Deku turned to see that his mother was sitting next to Endeavor on the sofa, showing a few baby pictures of him she had fished out of her drawer to the pro hero. The chuckling had came from the fact that Enji Todoroki was holding up a baby picture of young, 3-year-old Izuku Midoriya, standing on top of a playground obstacle in a make-shift hero costume.

"He wouldn't take it off for days! I finally got it off him to wash it and he ran around naked crying!" Inko giggled softly and rummaged through a couple of other infant Izuku photographs.

Shouto and Deku stood there shocked, seeing their parents act like… parents. Seeing both boys out of the corner of his eyes, Endeavor's face fell to a serious line and he handed the photograph back to Inko.

"I'll be taking my leave, thank you for dinner." He bowed gently before heading towards the door. He glanced at Shouto for a second who was still stunned, then walked out of the door. The two boys stood there, absolutely shocked for a few seconds before Deku ran over to his mom on the sofa, asking a million questions a second. She held up a couple of the photographs for him to see.

"I was showing him some of your baby photos!" She smiled cheerfully, which caused for more worry and concern from her son and Shouto. Making his way over, Shouto sat down next to Deku and leaned over.

"Mrs. Midoriya, may I ask what you and my father discussed?" He carefully worded the sentence, but his eyes showed eagerness.

Placing the photos down on the table, Inko rubbed the back of her neck before looking at the two boys. "We were talking about parent things, don't worry about it sweetie. I think from now on though, things might be a bit different at home." Her small smile was enough for Shouto to stall, looking from the baby pictures to Deku, then back to her. Before Shouto could move himself, Inko moved towards him to give him a gentle embrace. Emotions ran through everyone in that moment, but the most coming from Shouto with the amount of confusion, relief and love mixing and blending with one another. Deku placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it gently. In that moment he truly felt like he knew exactly what a family was supposed to be like, and the family he had right now was his own.

-  
Endeavor, No. 2 Hero, walked down the street towards the station. He recalled the moment his hands balled into fist and felt his rage overcome him. At that moment he saw a picture behind Inko. A happy, family portrait of her with a young Deku as well as his father. All smiling at the camera, a picture perfect family.

In that very moment, Enji recalled all of the children he had helped given life to and how he had shown no sympathy or compassion to any of them. Why were there no family portraits on the walls of smiling children, of him and his wife? While he didn't marry for love, his wife was strong. She stood by him and gave birth to all four of their children. She had helped care and nurture every single one of them but the reason everything went wrong was because of him.

In his own childhood all he knew was that he needed to be powerful. His family wanted him to outshine every single hero out there, and his quirk gave him the ability to do that. Did he ever smile once in his childhood? He couldn't remember ever having a happy moment with his parents. His mother was also submissive to her husband, but he never got a chance to stay with her either, similar to how Shouto was in his childhood. Could his wife have been someone like Inko? Someone who had strength, not just with a quirk, but with the tenderness of a mother and the burning desire to protect her child. These were all concepts that he became blinded by, blinded by aggression and the desire to be the best. The reason why he wasn't able to see his children as children was because he forgotten what it was like to be a child himself. At such a young age he was forced to grow up and become an adult – a hero.

The conflicting spirits within him was turning his stomach, causing his eyebrows to furrow and his mouth to frown. Seeing those baby pictures led to a realization. He would never be able to have something like that with his children. It was too late. What did happiness mean to him anyways? It was a loaded question that led to many other.

 _What does happiness mean to me?_

 _Why do I want to be the No. 1 Hero?_

 _What does it mean to be a hero?_

 _Why am I hero?_

Questions rolled and rolled into his head, one after the other. He had forgotten that pursuing his goal of being the No. 1 Hero had made him become something else. A _father._

 _What is a father?_

 _What does a father mean to me?_

 _How do you be a father?_

More questions rolled into his mind. He had neglected all of his children's happiness. The pursuit of being the No. 1 Hero had unintentionally afflicted pain on his children.

It would take time for Endeavor to figure out what he needed to do and if he even wanted to do something. Years and years of training had conditioned him to strongly believe what he was doing was right, but being over at the Midoirya's had given him a perspective he had been lacking for a long time. He felt confused, conflicted with himself and his beliefs but he knew one thing: maybe he should invite Inko and her son over to their place for dinner another time.


End file.
